Important Announcement from the IRS

The IRS says to make sure to report anything you stole this year as income on your tax return, unless you return it before the year's end. So glad we got that cleared up. Hope all you thieves out there are paying attention.

#yourtaxdollarsatwork

A Good Article

Here's a good article for you to check out, over on Gottesdienst. Dr. Koontz is a new professor at our Ft. Wayne seminary. I have heard him speak and preach a few times and read things he has written. He is very thoughtful and articulate. You may not always agree with him, but he will make you think!

My only caveat to the article is that local considerations must be taken into account as well - and not only in the US (and maybe not at all in the US), but around the world, in different countries and cultures who think quite differently than we do here. We cannot paint with too broad a brush.

That being said, I think he makes a number of very good points, particularly about catechesis in God's Word versus catechesis by government and media. I have long wondered, too, when this pandemic hit, about those churches that do not preach about sin and death but more about having a good life . . . what did they have to offer their people? 

But yes, absolutely, the church should include the vaccinated and unvaccinated, the masked and unmasked, everyone. He calls on us to repent now. That's always in order. But I also hope we begin having conversations now about what we did, how we responded, what we did well or not so well, and how we could do better in the future. And always become more grounded in the Word of God.

Yum!

Christmas Eve dinner. Our tradition is lasagna since it's easy to make and serve (so not too much work for my wife!) and quick to clean up to leave for the Divine Service. :-)  Also had freshly made just-out-of-the-oven rolls - the best! My in-laws joined us this year, too. A nice night.

Blessed Christmas

A blessed Christmas to you all.

I have come to appreciate pictures of Joseph holding baby Jesus. Maybe it is because I am a father. Anyway, here are some for you - the last is my favorite.

This is actually one of the first pictures of Joseph holding Jesus that I can remember seeing, so it made an impression on me. I am happy to say it is from CPH (hence the watermark). One of the things I like about it is the joy on Joseph's face . . .  :-)

Ahhh!

Three sermons (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Christmas 1) all formatted and loaded onto my ipad and ready for final practice, editing, and preaching.

All bulletins done, printed, and ready to go. And all online service bulletins prepared and uploaded to the website.

Now just some prayers to write, music files to get onto my phone, some communions to arrange for homebound and elderly members, some emails to take care of, and we're good to go!

Ahhh . . . :-)  Me. Happy.

PS Are people who are still uptight above Covid going to check Santa's vaccination passport before letting him in?

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

From a recent publication . . .

"An ELCA pastor posts on Facebook: "Do you have words you don't use in sermons? Here are some of mine: sin, forgiveness, faith, incarnation, grace, repentance. I'm thinking of adding Christ to the list (too 'airy' and amorphous).""

Good grief. I feel for the poor people in that pastor's parish. Words fail . . .

Happy First Day of Winter!

I hope we get some good snow this year!

Like Books?

Like books? I know, that's old fashioned, right? Lots of people read from e-readers, phones, etc. now. But there's just something to me about holding a book in your hand and reading.

So Friday was my birthday and my wife and daughter took me to a used book store they found out in Manassas called McKay's Used Books. I highly recommend you stop in there if you find yourself in that area. It is a large store, well organized, and cheap! How cheap? Books that I would see for $7-8 in other used books store would be $2-3 at McKays. Or cheaper! I got six books on Friday - none theology, just other things for me to read for learning and pleasure. And the prices? 

0.35 - hardcover, 200 pages, about Germans pastors in Nazi concentration camps

0.36 - softcover, 500 pages, Jeff Shaara historical-novel on D-Day

0.97 - a John Irving novel, hardcover, 500+ pages

1.50 - softcover (but not a small paperback), 500 pages, on the Battle of Chancellorsville

2.00 - hardcover, 250 pages, "Great Gambles of the Civil War"

2.00 - Band of Brothers (you might have heard of this one!) I was going to get out of the library, but hey, for 2 bucks! 300 pages

If you're counting, that's over 2,000 pages of reading for only about $7! I like to read while riding my bike on my trainer, makes the time go by much faster! These - plus theology that I will intersperse with them - will keep me in reading for some time. :-)

So stop in at McKay's. You'll have fun and won't regret it.

Just Say No!

 

No. Nyet. Nein. Non. Nee. Ne. Nope. Nej. A'ole. Geen. Nr. Br. Ayi. Ingen. Nei. 

And any other language I can think of!

Good Quote

Jesus curses where we would show compassion (we say: leave the poor tree alone, what did it ever do to you to deserve such treatment?! Leave those in the Temple alone, call an elders’ meeting and address it properly, professionally, don’t make such a big deal about it). And Jesus shows compassion where we would rather curse. Jesus says, ‘Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.’

~ Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau

Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary

St. Catherines, ON

I'm sure you'll be hearing something like this in one of my sermons . . .  ;-)

A Little Late . . .

During my blogging hiatus, we celebrated my daughter's (my youngest) 16th birthday. So Happy Birthday to her! (A little late here, but better late than never.)  :-)

Huh?

For the past few years one of the folks who lives down the street from our church puts up the following Christmas decoration: 

Now, there are a great variety of Christmas decorations people put up these days, but Santa riding an elephant? I have a few questions . . .

Are the people who live in this house from a country/culture where riding elephants is common? I've seen pictures of folks doing so (in Asia, I think), but is that really common enough for a decoration like this?

The company that makes this must have a big enough market to produce them in a sufficient quantity to make a profit. You don't just invest the funds necessary to make one or two of these! Who are the buyers? I've never seen anyone else have one of these! Are they all overseas - in Asia?

Is there some other hidden reason or meaning here that I just don't get? 

Hmmm . . .